Not much has been teased about NHL 27, but a rumor has picked up that San Jose Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini could be the next cover athlete.
Mike Straw, the executive editor of Insider GamingIG, tweeted out for fans to guess who would be the next cover athlete for the yearly EA Sports game. The only hint Straw gave was that the athlete chosen was from a team that hadn’t had a cover athlete in over 20 years.
Who wants a tease for the NHL 27 cover?
It’ll feature a team that’s had a cover athlete before, but not in over 20 years.
— Mike Straw 🔜 Gamescom (@MikeStrawMedia) July 11, 2026
That tracks right to the San Jose Sharks. Owen Nolan is the only other Sharks player to be on the cover of an NHL video game. Nolan was the face of NHL 2001, a great game, I’ll add. Nolan is the only other Sharks player to be on an EA NHL game cover. Joe Thornton featured on the cover of NHL 2K7.
But how do we know it is Celebrini on the cover of NHL 27? Truth is, we don’t. While Straw has a fairly credible background, rumors are all we have until EA confirms it. Straw did boost his chances of being correct, as he found the source code for what appeared to be pre-order links. That code contains Celebrini’s name, and another code contains the San Jose Sharks.
Straw googled NHL 27, and while the link only says players should wishlist the game on consoles, Straw screenshotted information about a potential reveal. If the original Google listing is correct, NHL 27 would be revealed on July 16th.
For a brief time, the Google listing for NHL 27 showed a reveal trailer coming July 16. The listing has since been updated to say the game is “coming soon”. pic.twitter.com/humdc9OFVf
— Mike Straw 🔜 Gamescom (@MikeStrawMedia) July 9, 2026
Celebrini took the NHL by storm last season and looks like the perfect candidate for the NHL 27 cover.